A grand feast for the Chinese entertainment industry

Chapter 211 Perfect
The streetlights outside the car window flew backward at high speed.

They arrived at the airport relatively quickly, before the plane even landed at eight o'clock. With special permission, cars went directly into the airport to pick them up. Several cars took the women with long white legs away, while Lin Jianlu and Lin Xilei got into the car brought by Chen Hong.

Headed straight to the CCTV building.

With Chen Hong around, Lin Xilei obediently went to the passenger seat, but her ears were constantly listening to the conversation in the back. It didn't seem like much time had passed. It had been less than two years since her boss became famous after releasing "Cold to the End," but several factions had already formed around him. They cooperated with each other, but in reality, they were already fiercely fighting each other behind the scenes.

Lin Xilei's former master can be considered Ge Fuhong. It was Ge Fuhong who gave her the opportunity to climb up to Lin Jianlu. To this day, Ge Fuhong's influence on Lin Jianlu's side, mainly in terms of career, has experienced a significant decline. Now, she can no longer reach the mainland, nor can she climb up to Europe and America. The only remaining business she has is the brokerage business in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and Southeast Asia, which will inevitably continue to be weakened in the future.

The logic is simple: once someone becomes famous, they will be able to attract attention. When it comes to endorsements, they will basically look to the global market. In mainland China, Chen Hong is already involved. Although she holds shares in Chen Hong's company and has a stake in it, she has no real power to make decisions, and therefore her influence has naturally diminished.

It can only be said that the employer is too powerful, suppressing those who should be assertive so that they cannot assert themselves under his rule.

In October of this year, Zhang Aijia returned home and decisively went through with the divorce, cutting ties on their interests. She also used this opportunity to pressure Ge Fuhong into making significant concessions, thus completely withdrawing from Lin Jianlu's global affairs. Furthermore, she only took 5% of the brokerage business in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

That was also a war filled with the clash of swords.

Although it still looks glamorous on the outside, those within the organization know the extent of the damage it has suffered inside.

In terms of Ge Fuhong's performance and abilities over the years, this is definitely a Waterloo-like setback.

However, it is precisely because the employer is so powerful that even if a broker of Ge Fuhong's caliber can only get a tiny bit of profit from him, it is enough for him to be unwilling to give up. In fact, even if he does not earn a penny for working for him, there are countless brokers in Hong Kong and Taiwan who would be willing to serve him.

The logic is so simple: how much money has Leung Wing-ki earned for Ge Fu-hong in the past year? How much will Chow Wai-man, whom she's going to heavily promote next, earn for her? How many roles did her other artists get at Longxin Film & Television, managed by Chen Hong, in the past year? How many opportunities did they get to appear on mainland screens? How much of an advantage will her artists gain at ATV going forward?
In an attempt to force her to concede, Sylvia Chang transferred all of her artists in Hong Kong and Taiwan to Ge Fuhong. Her management company was sold for only HK$1000 million. The management business of Liu Ruoying and others, as well as Su Huilun and Chen Shuhua, who had just been signed, were all transferred to Ge Fuhong. How much profit could this bring to Ge Fuhong?
But this is still a minor matter; it's just a matter of making a little money.

More importantly, as long as Ge Fuhong remains Lin Jianlu's agent in Hong Kong and Taiwan, she can undoubtedly become the number one agent. Her positional advantage and ability to suppress others in all artist affairs will be unchallenged.

With this advantage, she could even launch the next pop star at any time!

However, she remained deeply aware of the crisis.

The challengers were all too strong—not to mention how many agents in Hong Kong were eyeing Lin Jianlu's agency contract, just the fact that there was Chen Hong in mainland China and Brigitte Lin in Hong Kong, both of whom were not only capable and well-connected, but also Lin Jianlu's bed partners, was enough to keep her up at night.

During their previous phone conversations and later when Lin Xilei returned to Taiwan for vacation, the two reminisced several times. Ge Fuhong implied that he hoped Lin Xilei could offer her more assistance.

Lin Xilei agreed.

But agreeing is just agreeing—just kidding, who can control this guy!

His rise and development trajectory has long defied common sense. Just when you think he has reached his peak and will now be making more money for his agent in a steady manner, his next move will definitely surprise you!

In less than two years since his debut, he has released three albums and has taken a leap from the mainland to Hong Kong and Taiwan. The next step is to ascend to the throne of a global pop king. Not to mention, even his two managers, Ge Fuhong and Zhang Aijia, only have some vague information and do not know much about the inside story. But Lin Xilei, who is always by his side, knows very well that Lin Jianlu has now transcended the identity of an entertainment star!
In 1997, he went on a spending spree in Hong Kong, acquiring buildings, land, and shares for billions of Hong Kong dollars, but most of these acquisitions remained hidden and unknown to the public.

The so-called acquisition of ATV, which is still being hotly discussed in Hong Kong newspapers and media, is actually just the tip of the iceberg of his crazy spending on acquisitions in Hong Kong last year!

However, even if all the acquisitions he made in Hong Kong last year were included, it still wouldn't be considered the largest part of his wealth portfolio. The American media wanted to report on it, but it was suppressed. However, Lin Xilei saw his approximate shareholding in the American stock market from Zhang Aijia.

She was a thoughtful person; she saw it, wrote it down, and kept an eye on it.

Before New Year's Day, the stock price of an internet company in which he held more than two million shares had soared to over $300 per share, making his shares in the company alone worth more than $7 million!

The equivalent value exceeds HK$5 billion!
So, he's no longer just a superstar or a super king; he's already a super-rich man with assets in the tens of billions—and he might even earn hundreds of millions of dollars a year!

If someone likes you, trusts you, and is willing to use you, you'll instantly reach the pinnacle of your life. But if they dislike you or reject you, you'll instantly plummet to the bottom—there's no logic to it, it's that simple!
So frankly speaking, Lin Xilei is willing to help Ge Fuhong a little if she can do so without harming her own foundation, but she would never do it if asked to participate in the struggle and infighting among the various forces around Lin Jianlu—just kidding, although she has never slept with him, even his most favored woman is not as familiar with him as she is!

While it's hard to say for sure that I'm the person he trusts the most, I should at least be considered one of them!

Whenever someone goes to America, you have to check everything they eat, drink, and wear. They make all kinds of business investments and decisions, and attend all kinds of business meetings without ever hiding anything from you—what level of trust is that?

His girls were just people he slept with; how could they compare to me?
Even Sylvia Chang doesn't dare to easily openly criticize herself now...

Of course, Chen Hong is no simple person. Not only is she beautiful, but her ability, skills, and vision are in no way inferior to Zhang Aijia and Ge Fuhong. In fact, it is possible that even if Zhang Aijia and Ge Fuhong joined forces, they might not be able to defeat her. Therefore, we should still be wary of her and respect her. Ha, others may not understand or guess her, but how could I not understand her?
That Li Xiaoran, it is said that she has been recruited by Chen Hong. If it weren't for Chen Hong's encouragement, I would never dare to climb into Lin Jianlu's bed under the noses of Zhang Aijia and myself!
This woman is said to be under thirty years old, with such stunning looks, and she's also an important helper in his career, yet she's already started sending people to his bed so early!
This level of composure and shrewdness is simply frightening!
"Okay, don't worry, I can handle all of this! You're just a worrywart. All that flying back and forth must be tiring. After you finish recording, go back to the courtyard and rest well. Let Zuo Xiaoqian give you a massage. You always say she has a strong hand, right? Give her a good massage to help you relax. After the Spring Festival Gala ends tomorrow night, take a few days off and enjoy the New Year."

"This year, just thinking about your schedule makes my heart ache and I feel so tired for you! Although things still need to be done, you should take a break when you can. You need to learn to take more time to rest for yourself! No matter how much money you earn, health is the most important thing, isn't it?"

"You'll definitely have to go to our parents' place on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and visit your maternal grandmother on the second, right? It's the same as last year. The third and fourth days will definitely be crowded at the courtyard house, so let's do it on the fifth. On the fifth day, you can come to my place. As usual, I'll cook a nice meal for you myself, and I'll have a drink with you. Let's take a break!"

"Who cares if the sky falls or not, we still have to live our lives properly, right?"

"Oh? I'm going too? Then... okay, that's perfect. I can cook. It's rare for the whole family to get together, so we shouldn't let Mom handle all the kitchen stuff. I'll go over and keep an eye on the cooking. You and Mom can chat more. I'm not bragging, but Xu Qing is definitely not as good as me at this!"

"..."

Lin Xilei listened with great interest from the front row.

Goodness, every time I have the chance to meet her, especially to hear Chen Hong talk and chat with my boss, I feel like I'm learning something new—who wouldn't like a woman like that?
Even if she weren't that beautiful, any man would like her!

Well, we finally got our tickets this year!
Hmm, there's probably going to be another big show at the Empress Dowager's place this year—unfortunately, I'm not qualified to go that far into her family.

However, considering everything, Xu Qing is his official girlfriend in the capital, and she's also staying at his courtyard house. Lin Qingxia reportedly arrived in the capital yesterday with her child to celebrate the New Year. That woman might have seemed naive and innocent in her early years, but in recent years she's become increasingly experienced and knowledgeable, keeping a low profile while actually being quite skilled. Plus, Chen Shuhua is going to participate in the Spring Festival Gala this year, so she'll definitely be in the capital on the first day of the Lunar New Year. Although her reputation is quite low, and no one in Hong Kong, Taiwan, or the mainland pays attention to her or considers her a rival, she did give birth to Lin Jianlu's first son. Moreover, as his close assistant, I can especially sense that these two women from Taiwan hold a very special place in his heart, so she will probably be there too.

Now Chen Hong has been added to the list.

Ah, of course, Brigitte Lin still steals the show.

Because this year she was the only one bringing her child to the event, and it was the second young master of the Lin family.

Wow, I really want to go see it in person!

The Empress Dowager is a very clever and capable person. I really want to see how she manages to suppress the palace intrigue among her four daughters-in-law. Unfortunately, not only am I not his woman at all, but even if I successfully climbed into his bed, I don't know how far it would be before I'm qualified to go to his parents' house for dinner on the first day of the Lunar New Year!

…………

The capital city is already filled with the atmosphere of the Spring Festival.

There are lights and decorations everywhere.

As the car drove through countless streets, Lin Jianlu chatted casually with Chen Hong, her eyes gazing at the familiar street scenes of the capital, feeling the stark difference between the capital city in 1998 and New York, her mind still lingering on the things she had discussed with Zhang Aijia before getting off the plane.

Hmm, a collaboration is a good idea. Setting up a separate production line, or even launching a sub-brand, would also be a good option to consider…

Suddenly, he looked down at Chen Hong's face. She quickly noticed and lifted her head from his embrace. He then leaned down and kissed her. She was a little shy. After the kiss, she glanced cautiously at the row in front of her, her face flushing slightly. Then she leaned closer and whispered in her ear, "Do you want to come over to my place tomorrow morning?"

Lin Jianlu smiled and hugged her tightly, "Okay!"

…………

It was a quarter to nine o'clock when Lin Jianlu entered the backstage area of ​​the CCTV studio.

Led by staff, Lin Xilei first went to the directing team on behalf of Lin Jianlu to report for duty. The Spring Festival Gala directing team immediately breathed a sigh of relief—this was an absolute exception. Lin Jianlu had only participated in one program review from beginning to end, and now she was going to be on the final rehearsal and recording. Moreover, this was just a final guarantee for tomorrow night's live broadcast. Fortunately, she still made it in time.

Lin Jianlu entered the backstage rest area by herself. It was a long corridor with small dressing rooms on both sides, each labeled with a name. Staff, assistants, singers, and actors were always moving back and forth in the corridor, creating a bustling and noisy atmosphere. However, as Lin Jianlu walked into the corridor, several people suddenly stopped in front of her, paused, and nodded to her, even though they didn't recognize her.

Lin Jianlu responded with a smile and a nod.

Someone, whether a staff member or not, spoke up, "Brother Lin, your dressing room has changed this year. It's in dressing room number one, the one over there with your name on it."

Lin Jianlu nodded and thanked her, "Thank you!"

As more and more people saw him, they immediately stopped and nodded in greeting.

Finally, I ran into an acquaintance. "Oh my god, you're finally back!"

Lin Jianlu smiled and hugged him. "You're in good spirits. I'm looking forward to seeing your skit! If you're not in a hurry to leave, let's find some time to have a meal together after the New Year."

Old Zhao must be at the peak of his creative career. Last year and this year, whenever I saw him, he was full of indescribable energy and had a thriving spirit.

Well, to use a phrase commonly used on the internet in later years, it has a sense of exhilaration during an economic upswing.

He smiled and said in fluent Northeastern dialect, "Okay then! What else is there to say? If you want to have dinner with me, I'll eat with you before I go back! I even brought you some tobacco leaves this year. I sourced them myself. They're all from a secret recipe, fermented in a sealed container. They're sweet, strong but not pungent, even better than the ones you smoked here last year! I'll send them to you later!"

"That's great! I'll try it sometime! Thanks!"

"Don't mention it! We're brothers, why are you bringing up that one?"

This conversation was probably overheard by many people in the lounges, and as they continued talking, many lounge doors opened nearby—most of them were strangers, but as soon as their eyes met, they smiled and nodded to Lin Jianlu.

So Lao Zhao led the way, and soon they saw the No. 1 lounge.

Sure enough, Lin Jianlu's name was posted on it. Old Zhao smiled and said, "You have money in your room, go ahead!" He waved goodbye, and without knocking, pushed the door open and went in.

"Oh! You're back?"

Sitting on the small sofa was probably Chen Shuhua's assistant. They had met a few times, but they weren't really familiar with each other. However, a middle-aged woman was lounging on the sofa.

She had already changed into her evening gown.

Upon seeing Lin Jianlu push the door open and enter, she immediately jumped up, her face filled with indescribable joy.

He hugged her and gave her a kiss, and in the short time it took, her little assistant had already sensibly slipped out.

That's how CCTV is; they basically don't give anyone face. For song programs, each program has its own dressing room. Even big names like Wang Fei and Chen Shuhua have to share a room. Since Lin Jianlu's room was empty, Chen Shuhua asked the production team for the key and came to rest there regularly.

The two had barely exchanged a few words when her assistant knocked on the door and came in again, saying, "Sis, it's time to wait!"

…………

Everyone was in a hurry.

Lin Jianlu's appearance time was around 10:20, which is considered prime time. The skit before him was called "A Stamp," performed by Pan Zi, Hei Mei, and Da Shan.

Further ahead is Xie Xiaodong and Fan Xiaoxuan's "Health Song".

Chen Shuhua and Wang Fei's "Meet in 1998" was played a little after nine o'clock.

Zhou Haimei, who is representing ATV at the Spring Festival Gala, will be participating in a medley of songs, which is said to be a group of more than ten songs, and happens to be right before "Meet in 1998".

As for Vivian Chow, her song "Gong Xi Fa Cai" was extremely festive and was arranged by the production team to be the fourth program, which was considered the opening segment.

He arrived early to wait for the performance. He had already changed his clothes on the plane. Just before going on stage, Lin Xilei carefully smoothed out every tiny wrinkle for him.

It's an elevator again.

He was dressed in a crisp, white suit.

"We, who do not understand the torment of love, hate, and passion, all thought that love was as fickle as the weather, believing that loving for one day was better than loving forever, freezing time in that instant..."

The performance was perfect.

Since his debut, to be honest, there have been very few performance occasions that have made Lin Jianlu feel nervous anymore. Or rather, it's not simply a matter of whether he has enough performance experience; it's mainly a psychological issue. He's not afraid of making mistakes anymore.

No performance will decide anything anymore.

On the contrary, this is precisely why he is able to be relatively relaxed in almost every performance, resulting in consistently excellent results. The Super Bowl halftime show that just ended, specifically the final knife kick, was actually a stunt, and since it involved a real weapon, it made him a little nervous. However, when it comes to dancing and singing, even though hundreds of millions or even billions of people are watching on the other side of the live broadcast camera, it's hard to say that he was particularly nervous.

As the song ended, Lin Jianlu, with a warm smile on her face, confidently spread her arms and, as the elevator slowly descended, bowed to the audience—the audience erupted in applause!
…………

Contrary to Chen Hong's assumption that Lin Jianlu would return to the courtyard house to spend the night upon returning to the capital, he actually chose to go to the China Hotel, where Chen Shuhua stayed.

When the door was opened, even Chen Shuhua herself could hardly believe it.

She knew perfectly well that Lin Jianlu had a home in the capital and that several of his mistresses lived in his courtyard house. She herself was unwilling to stay there and join in the fun, but her mother-in-law warmly invited her to stay for two nights in a small courtyard house where her parents-in-law now lived. However, she eventually chose to return to the hotel. But there was no doubt that her husband had connections everywhere in the capital and was not short of women.

Putting everything else aside, the woman staying next to him in the China Hotel, Zhou Huimin, should also be his woman—Chen Shuhua considers herself much older than her and has no advantage in terms of looks.

But Lin Jianlu still came over and knocked on her door.

After entering the room, he quickly washed his face. Chen Shuhua stood by his side, serving him a towel. After wiping his face, he seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, cupped Chen Shuhua's face, kissed her, smiled, and said, "I'll have to come back later. There's someone staying next door; I'll go and appease them first."

Chen Shuhua chuckled, hesitated for a moment, and then forced herself to say, "Actually, it's fine for you to stay over there."

Unexpectedly, Lin Jianlu laughed instead, "If you want to pretend to be virtuous, you should put in some effort to study it!" After saying that, she hooked her chin, "You're clearly craving it, but you still want to pretend to be generous."

Chen Shuhua chuckled and brushed his hand away.

I'm really craving it.

So, although she could still barely control herself and say something modest, after being teased by Lin Jianlu, she could no longer bear to pretend to be generous.

Unexpectedly, just over ten minutes later, he returned and knocked on the door, pulling Zhou Huimin from next door into the room. Zhou Huimin looked embarrassed and blushed, "Sister Shuhua, I... oh dear..."

Before Chen Shuhua could say anything, she shyly covered her face.

(End of this chapter)